The geographical contours of political world economy can be discussed through a continuously changing structure of both core and peripheral areas on an international and intra-national scale and a ...
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The geographical contours of political world economy can be discussed through a continuously changing structure of both core and peripheral areas on an international and intra-national scale and a collection of states and their corresponding national economies. Regional economies imply that the competitive advantages and economic fate of individual firms are linked to those of all the other local firms. Regional economies can also be considered as political entities since it take structures of collective order into account. This chapter summarises the author's insights regarding how the revival of regions as the focus of economic and political activity may be able to result in the rethinking of issues that concern citizenship and democracy in local society.Less

The Changing Geopolitics of Production, Competition, and Regional Interdependence

Allen J. Scott

Published in print: 1999-12-16

The geographical contours of political world economy can be discussed through a continuously changing structure of both core and peripheral areas on an international and intra-national scale and a collection of states and their corresponding national economies. Regional economies imply that the competitive advantages and economic fate of individual firms are linked to those of all the other local firms. Regional economies can also be considered as political entities since it take structures of collective order into account. This chapter summarises the author's insights regarding how the revival of regions as the focus of economic and political activity may be able to result in the rethinking of issues that concern citizenship and democracy in local society.

This chapter covers the years up to the official American entry into World War II on the side of Britain and the Soviet Union against Germany, Italy, and Japan. During the years 1933–41, strategies ...
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This chapter covers the years up to the official American entry into World War II on the side of Britain and the Soviet Union against Germany, Italy, and Japan. During the years 1933–41, strategies were developed by those six countries and then turned into actual policies that determined the shape of the relations of American big business with Britain and Germany during the subsequent wartime and postwar periods. And this decade was also decisive for the organization of both the world economy and world politics for the following fifty years until the collapse of the Soviet Bloc in 1989–90.Less

Nazi Germany, Appeasement, and Anglo-American Big Business, 1933–1941

Volker R. Berghahn

Published in print: 2014-05-04

This chapter covers the years up to the official American entry into World War II on the side of Britain and the Soviet Union against Germany, Italy, and Japan. During the years 1933–41, strategies were developed by those six countries and then turned into actual policies that determined the shape of the relations of American big business with Britain and Germany during the subsequent wartime and postwar periods. And this decade was also decisive for the organization of both the world economy and world politics for the following fifty years until the collapse of the Soviet Bloc in 1989–90.

This book gives a twist to the longstanding debate on the impact of economic globalization on the welfare state. It focuses on several small, advanced OECD economies in order to assess whether (and ...
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This book gives a twist to the longstanding debate on the impact of economic globalization on the welfare state. It focuses on several small, advanced OECD economies in order to assess whether (and how) the welfare state will be able to compete under conditions of an increasingly integrated world economy. Small states can be seen as an ‘early warning system’ for general trends, because of their dependence on world markets and vulnerability to competitive pressures. The book's theoretical part integrates the literature on the political economy of small states with more recent research on the impact of globalization on social policy to generate a set of ideal-typical policy scenarios. It systematically tests these scenarios against the experience of four countries: Austria, Denmark, New Zealand, and Switzerland. The comparative analysis of reform trajectories since the 1970s in four key policy areas — pensions, labour market policy, health care, and family policy — provides substantial evidence of a new convergence in welfare state patterns. This amounts to a fundamental transformation of the welfare state from the old Keynesian welfare state positioned ‘against the market’ to a new set of supply-side policies ‘with’ and ‘for’ the market. Yet one of the big lessons to be learned from this study is that the transformation does not match the doomsday scenario predicted by neo-classical economists in the 1990s.Less

Transformations of the Welfare State : Small States, Big Lessons

Published in print: 2010-06-03

This book gives a twist to the longstanding debate on the impact of economic globalization on the welfare state. It focuses on several small, advanced OECD economies in order to assess whether (and how) the welfare state will be able to compete under conditions of an increasingly integrated world economy. Small states can be seen as an ‘early warning system’ for general trends, because of their dependence on world markets and vulnerability to competitive pressures. The book's theoretical part integrates the literature on the political economy of small states with more recent research on the impact of globalization on social policy to generate a set of ideal-typical policy scenarios. It systematically tests these scenarios against the experience of four countries: Austria, Denmark, New Zealand, and Switzerland. The comparative analysis of reform trajectories since the 1970s in four key policy areas — pensions, labour market policy, health care, and family policy — provides substantial evidence of a new convergence in welfare state patterns. This amounts to a fundamental transformation of the welfare state from the old Keynesian welfare state positioned ‘against the market’ to a new set of supply-side policies ‘with’ and ‘for’ the market. Yet one of the big lessons to be learned from this study is that the transformation does not match the doomsday scenario predicted by neo-classical economists in the 1990s.

This chapter provides a theoretical framework for understanding how capitalism might evolve. No one can easily design and then legislate an entirely new kind of economy. Nor can anyone simply assert ...
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This chapter provides a theoretical framework for understanding how capitalism might evolve. No one can easily design and then legislate an entirely new kind of economy. Nor can anyone simply assert different principles and hope that they will become real. Fundamental change occurs only when existing systems are seen to have failed, including by their own standards. Often that happens because of dynamics within the system. Many have analyzed the ways in which capitalism might be its own gravedigger, some disproven by history, others vindicated by it. Capitalism's success creates the conditions for change: forecasters predict a trebling of the size of the world economy and a doubling even in the old economies of Europe and the United States by 2050.Less

The Nature of Change : How One System Becomes Another

Geoff Mulgan

Published in print: 2015-03-09

This chapter provides a theoretical framework for understanding how capitalism might evolve. No one can easily design and then legislate an entirely new kind of economy. Nor can anyone simply assert different principles and hope that they will become real. Fundamental change occurs only when existing systems are seen to have failed, including by their own standards. Often that happens because of dynamics within the system. Many have analyzed the ways in which capitalism might be its own gravedigger, some disproven by history, others vindicated by it. Capitalism's success creates the conditions for change: forecasters predict a trebling of the size of the world economy and a doubling even in the old economies of Europe and the United States by 2050.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) and multinational corporations (MNCs) play a large and growing role in shaping our world, both economically and politically. Public and academic opinion has long been ...
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Foreign direct investment (FDI) and multinational corporations (MNCs) play a large and growing role in shaping our world, both economically and politically. Public and academic opinion has long been mired in an inconclusive debate as to whether these phenomena are beneficial things that should be encouraged or harmful things that need intensive governmental regulation. The integrating thesis of this book is that the question as to whether they are good or bad is the wrong question and is based on the fundamentally faulty premise that all foreign subsidiaries are essentially similar, i.e., MNCs are homogeneous entities and FDI is a homogeneous process. The inevitability of heterogeneity results in the imperatives of disaggregation and the fallacy of generalization if these complex, differentiated phenomena are to be properly understood. This book seeks a different path to understanding by analyzing MNCs and FDI in an eclectic, nuanced manner that makes no effort to “prove” that a simple pro or con conclusion is accurate or relevant. The main integrating themes collectively make the case that the most productive analysis of the nature and impact of these phenomena comes from acknowledging the dominance of heterogeneity, perceptions, and ambiguity and the paucity of universal truths. With hundreds of thousands of different kinds of foreign subsidiaries operating today in 200 countries and territories, an objective and informed response to the questions of their net merits and effects should be: it depends on circumstances. This book has two main objectives: first, to provide a better academic understanding of an increasingly important element of the world economy, and second, to stimulate a more relevant policy debate about the proper extent of government regulation of FDI and MNCs.Less

Stephen D. Cohen

Published in print: 2007-02-08

Foreign direct investment (FDI) and multinational corporations (MNCs) play a large and growing role in shaping our world, both economically and politically. Public and academic opinion has long been mired in an inconclusive debate as to whether these phenomena are beneficial things that should be encouraged or harmful things that need intensive governmental regulation. The integrating thesis of this book is that the question as to whether they are good or bad is the wrong question and is based on the fundamentally faulty premise that all foreign subsidiaries are essentially similar, i.e., MNCs are homogeneous entities and FDI is a homogeneous process. The inevitability of heterogeneity results in the imperatives of disaggregation and the fallacy of generalization if these complex, differentiated phenomena are to be properly understood. This book seeks a different path to understanding by analyzing MNCs and FDI in an eclectic, nuanced manner that makes no effort to “prove” that a simple pro or con conclusion is accurate or relevant. The main integrating themes collectively make the case that the most productive analysis of the nature and impact of these phenomena comes from acknowledging the dominance of heterogeneity, perceptions, and ambiguity and the paucity of universal truths. With hundreds of thousands of different kinds of foreign subsidiaries operating today in 200 countries and territories, an objective and informed response to the questions of their net merits and effects should be: it depends on circumstances. This book has two main objectives: first, to provide a better academic understanding of an increasingly important element of the world economy, and second, to stimulate a more relevant policy debate about the proper extent of government regulation of FDI and MNCs.

This chapter examines five structural factors within which the EU–China relationship will operate in the next generation. These are: interdependence and competition in a globalizing world economy; ...
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This chapter examines five structural factors within which the EU–China relationship will operate in the next generation. These are: interdependence and competition in a globalizing world economy; the contrast between European structuralism and Asian organicism; the regionalization of Eurasian security; the contentious politics of Central Eurasia; and the structural contradiction between the US ‘global state’ and the European and Asian ‘region-states’. In putting forward these factors Kerr is echoing the arguments of several other contributors: interdependence and competition; structuralism and organicism; security inter-regionalization; and questions of triangularity. Thus, though open to diverse interpretation, these factors seem to constitute the beginning of an ‘agenda’ in the international politics of EU–China relations.Less

Between Regionalism and World Order: Five Structural Factors in China–Europe Relations to 2025

DAVID KERR

Published in print: 2007-12-13

This chapter examines five structural factors within which the EU–China relationship will operate in the next generation. These are: interdependence and competition in a globalizing world economy; the contrast between European structuralism and Asian organicism; the regionalization of Eurasian security; the contentious politics of Central Eurasia; and the structural contradiction between the US ‘global state’ and the European and Asian ‘region-states’. In putting forward these factors Kerr is echoing the arguments of several other contributors: interdependence and competition; structuralism and organicism; security inter-regionalization; and questions of triangularity. Thus, though open to diverse interpretation, these factors seem to constitute the beginning of an ‘agenda’ in the international politics of EU–China relations.

This chapter considers the possible application of academic research to address the dire predicament of balance sheet recession and chronic stagnation characterizing large parts of the world economy ...
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This chapter considers the possible application of academic research to address the dire predicament of balance sheet recession and chronic stagnation characterizing large parts of the world economy since 2007. Contemporary policymakers have striven to stimulate demand despite huge debt overhangs and without undermining confidence in the future value of money or sustainability of the public finances and debt. However, as the analysis in the book has shown, excess public debt is fraught with future inflation risk. It highlights two characteristics underlying the best thinking about inflation: adaptation and remembering. It then addresses the question of how inflation targeting might be usefully applied to the post-2007 problems of recession and stagnation against a background of excessive indebtedness.Less

Adapting to Expectations

Brigitte Granville

Published in print: 2013-07-28

This chapter considers the possible application of academic research to address the dire predicament of balance sheet recession and chronic stagnation characterizing large parts of the world economy since 2007. Contemporary policymakers have striven to stimulate demand despite huge debt overhangs and without undermining confidence in the future value of money or sustainability of the public finances and debt. However, as the analysis in the book has shown, excess public debt is fraught with future inflation risk. It highlights two characteristics underlying the best thinking about inflation: adaptation and remembering. It then addresses the question of how inflation targeting might be usefully applied to the post-2007 problems of recession and stagnation against a background of excessive indebtedness.

The Bretton Woods institutions (BWIs), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank were created to bring about orderly development of the world economy in the post-World War II era. ...
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The Bretton Woods institutions (BWIs), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank were created to bring about orderly development of the world economy in the post-World War II era. This chapter makes an attempt to suggest broad directions of reform. It employs historical and institutional approaches in trying to understand the sources of failures and limitations of the BWIs. A detailed blueprint for reform would require much technical and analytical work on specific issues, but at this stage, it is more important to forge a consensus on the direction of reform. The chapter reviews the evolution of the BWIs, identifying the main driving forces behind the changes in the role and functions of the system, and discusses institutional reform, including the reform of governance and conditionality. In addition, the chapter discusses how to redefine the roles of the BWIs.Less

The Bretton Woods Institutions: Evolution, Reform, and Change

Jong-Il You

Published in print: 2002-07-18

The Bretton Woods institutions (BWIs), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank were created to bring about orderly development of the world economy in the post-World War II era. This chapter makes an attempt to suggest broad directions of reform. It employs historical and institutional approaches in trying to understand the sources of failures and limitations of the BWIs. A detailed blueprint for reform would require much technical and analytical work on specific issues, but at this stage, it is more important to forge a consensus on the direction of reform. The chapter reviews the evolution of the BWIs, identifying the main driving forces behind the changes in the role and functions of the system, and discusses institutional reform, including the reform of governance and conditionality. In addition, the chapter discusses how to redefine the roles of the BWIs.

Discussion of globalization embraces a wide array of analytical debates about the world economic and political order. This chapter focuses on the links between work organizations and the global ...
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Discussion of globalization embraces a wide array of analytical debates about the world economic and political order. This chapter focuses on the links between work organizations and the global context, with two main themes. First, globalization is not an inevitable force but an organized project, and this chapter examines how particular organized interests have promoted their own conceptions of the process. The second theme embraces the implications of globalization for concrete work experience. This book is about working life, but it is also about the influences on concrete work experience. This chapter is concerned only with economic issues, that is, the degree to which the world economy is becoming increasingly interlinked and the ease with which capital and labour are globally mobile. Three models are considered: hyperglobalism, scepticism, and transformation.Less

How Is Globalization Affecting Work?

Paul EdwardsJudy Wajcman

Published in print: 2005-09-15

Discussion of globalization embraces a wide array of analytical debates about the world economic and political order. This chapter focuses on the links between work organizations and the global context, with two main themes. First, globalization is not an inevitable force but an organized project, and this chapter examines how particular organized interests have promoted their own conceptions of the process. The second theme embraces the implications of globalization for concrete work experience. This book is about working life, but it is also about the influences on concrete work experience. This chapter is concerned only with economic issues, that is, the degree to which the world economy is becoming increasingly interlinked and the ease with which capital and labour are globally mobile. Three models are considered: hyperglobalism, scepticism, and transformation.

This chapter discusses the implications of a world economy for environmental policy and law. The chapter states that the interpretation of the influence of an emergent world economy on environmental ...
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This chapter discusses the implications of a world economy for environmental policy and law. The chapter states that the interpretation of the influence of an emergent world economy on environmental policies presented in this chapter follows a logical topical sequence. It begins with a description of the techno-economic developments that are shaping the present world and the principal environmental issues that have consequently arisen are identified. This is followed by a synthesis of economic-environmental interrelationships that is relevant for the present context of national and international environmental policy and law. The chapter also analyses alternative strategies such as administrative, fiscal, diplomatic, legal, and ethical strategies, through which transnational issues of global change are addressed. The implications of policy choices for the future of the world economy and of the human condition in the biosphere are also conjectured.Less

Implications of a World Economy for Environmental Policy and Law

Lynton Keith Caldwell

Published in print: 1997-12-04

This chapter discusses the implications of a world economy for environmental policy and law. The chapter states that the interpretation of the influence of an emergent world economy on environmental policies presented in this chapter follows a logical topical sequence. It begins with a description of the techno-economic developments that are shaping the present world and the principal environmental issues that have consequently arisen are identified. This is followed by a synthesis of economic-environmental interrelationships that is relevant for the present context of national and international environmental policy and law. The chapter also analyses alternative strategies such as administrative, fiscal, diplomatic, legal, and ethical strategies, through which transnational issues of global change are addressed. The implications of policy choices for the future of the world economy and of the human condition in the biosphere are also conjectured.

Even though armed conflicts in developing countries have not generally been directly conducted by developed states since the early 1980s, they have been strongly influenced by these states, because ...
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Even though armed conflicts in developing countries have not generally been directly conducted by developed states since the early 1980s, they have been strongly influenced by these states, because both sides require hard currency to support their military activities and supply the population on whom they rely for support. Thus, the relationship with the world economy affects the intensity of the conflict and often its duration, through trade, finance, or aid with one or more of the contending parties. In this chapter, the changing nature of the world economy itself, and in particular the independence of economic actors from nation states, is related to the provision of economic resources required to sustain conflict. The international political economy of conflict in poor countries is discussed, focusing on the impact of trade, finance, and aid on the process of conflict itself.Less

The International Political Economy of Conflict in Poor Countries

Valpy FitzGerald

Published in print: 2000-12-07

Even though armed conflicts in developing countries have not generally been directly conducted by developed states since the early 1980s, they have been strongly influenced by these states, because both sides require hard currency to support their military activities and supply the population on whom they rely for support. Thus, the relationship with the world economy affects the intensity of the conflict and often its duration, through trade, finance, or aid with one or more of the contending parties. In this chapter, the changing nature of the world economy itself, and in particular the independence of economic actors from nation states, is related to the provision of economic resources required to sustain conflict. The international political economy of conflict in poor countries is discussed, focusing on the impact of trade, finance, and aid on the process of conflict itself.

This chapter examines cross-border movements of people so as to outline the contours, examine the underlying factors, analyse the implications of globalisation, explore future prospects, and consider ...
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This chapter examines cross-border movements of people so as to outline the contours, examine the underlying factors, analyse the implications of globalisation, explore future prospects, and consider issues and problems of governance. It sketches a profile of international labour migration over the past fifty years and situates it in an historical perspective to highlight the contrast between the old and the new. It also draws a distinction between different categories of labour flows in the contemporary world economy. It then examines the underlying factors with an emphasis on structural determinants at the macrolevel. It also attempts to explain why the gathering momentum of globalisation has coincided with a discernible slowdown in migration during the last quarter of the 20th century, to analyse how globalisation might influence emigration pressures on the supply side and immigration needs on the demand side.Less

Cross-border Movements of People

Deepak Nayyar

Published in print: 2002-07-18

This chapter examines cross-border movements of people so as to outline the contours, examine the underlying factors, analyse the implications of globalisation, explore future prospects, and consider issues and problems of governance. It sketches a profile of international labour migration over the past fifty years and situates it in an historical perspective to highlight the contrast between the old and the new. It also draws a distinction between different categories of labour flows in the contemporary world economy. It then examines the underlying factors with an emphasis on structural determinants at the macrolevel. It also attempts to explain why the gathering momentum of globalisation has coincided with a discernible slowdown in migration during the last quarter of the 20th century, to analyse how globalisation might influence emigration pressures on the supply side and immigration needs on the demand side.

The rise of Asia, and China specifically, is the single most important force reshaping the world economy at the beginning of the 21st century. From a low of 20% in 1950, Asia's share of global GDP ...
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The rise of Asia, and China specifically, is the single most important force reshaping the world economy at the beginning of the 21st century. From a low of 20% in 1950, Asia's share of global GDP has now risen to 33% and will exceed 40% within a generation if current forecasts are realized. Asia's growing weight in the world economy is elevating it to a central position in global economic and financial affairs. The potential global impact of this astonishing growth is far reaching, from oil markets and the environment to a reshaping of trade relations in the current multilateral system dominated by the WTO. This collection of chapters written by leading economists explores the likely impact of the rapid growth in the East Asian economies, and in particular China, on the world economy in the coming decades and the consequent challenges for the development of trade, macroeconomic, and environmental policy.Less

China, Asia, and the New World Economy

Published in print: 2008-02-21

The rise of Asia, and China specifically, is the single most important force reshaping the world economy at the beginning of the 21st century. From a low of 20% in 1950, Asia's share of global GDP has now risen to 33% and will exceed 40% within a generation if current forecasts are realized. Asia's growing weight in the world economy is elevating it to a central position in global economic and financial affairs. The potential global impact of this astonishing growth is far reaching, from oil markets and the environment to a reshaping of trade relations in the current multilateral system dominated by the WTO. This collection of chapters written by leading economists explores the likely impact of the rapid growth in the East Asian economies, and in particular China, on the world economy in the coming decades and the consequent challenges for the development of trade, macroeconomic, and environmental policy.

The world economy is facing unprecedented challenges brought by the still unfolding global financial crisis. At this critical juncture in history, China's economic performance and financial stability ...
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The world economy is facing unprecedented challenges brought by the still unfolding global financial crisis. At this critical juncture in history, China's economic performance and financial stability are closely watched across the world. This book examines corporate governance reforms in China as an economy in transition—from a planned economy to a market economy—in the context of globalization and the country's accession to the WTO. The book interprets China's experience as a gradualist transition strategy, which is appropriate given the existing constraints imposed by China's limited political, legal, and regulatory framework. This approach also compares favorably with the radical privatization program (shock therapy) in Russia. In China, institutional innovations play a key role in discovering a better way to the market, even though such transitional institutions may not fully comply with a full market economy. Meanwhile, mutually supporting and complimentary structural reforms of China's enterprises, banks, and stock market should proceed hand in hand in order to achieve effective and sustained results during the transition period.Less

Jing Leng

Published in print: 2009-06-01

The world economy is facing unprecedented challenges brought by the still unfolding global financial crisis. At this critical juncture in history, China's economic performance and financial stability are closely watched across the world. This book examines corporate governance reforms in China as an economy in transition—from a planned economy to a market economy—in the context of globalization and the country's accession to the WTO. The book interprets China's experience as a gradualist transition strategy, which is appropriate given the existing constraints imposed by China's limited political, legal, and regulatory framework. This approach also compares favorably with the radical privatization program (shock therapy) in Russia. In China, institutional innovations play a key role in discovering a better way to the market, even though such transitional institutions may not fully comply with a full market economy. Meanwhile, mutually supporting and complimentary structural reforms of China's enterprises, banks, and stock market should proceed hand in hand in order to achieve effective and sustained results during the transition period.

This is the first book to provide a fully comprehensive overview of the complicated issues facing multinational companies and their global sourcing strategies. Few international trade transactions ...
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This is the first book to provide a fully comprehensive overview of the complicated issues facing multinational companies and their global sourcing strategies. Few international trade transactions today are based on the exchange of finished goods; rather, the majority of transactions are dominated by sales of individual components and intermediary services. Many firms organize global production around offshoring parts, components, and services to producers in distant countries, and contracts are drawn up specific to the parties and distinct legal systems involved. This book examines the contractual frictions that arise in the international system of production and how these frictions influence the world economy. The book discusses the inevitable complications that develop in contract negotiation and execution. It provides a unified framework that sheds light on the factors helping global firms determine production locations and other organizational choices. The book also implements a series of systematic empirical tests, based on recent data from the U.S. Customs and Census Offices, which demonstrate the relevance of contractual factors in global production decisions. Using an integrated approach, the book is an excellent resource for researchers, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates interested in the inner workings of international economics and trade.Less

Global Production : Firms, Contracts, and Trade Structure

Pol Antràs

Published in print: 2015-12-22

This is the first book to provide a fully comprehensive overview of the complicated issues facing multinational companies and their global sourcing strategies. Few international trade transactions today are based on the exchange of finished goods; rather, the majority of transactions are dominated by sales of individual components and intermediary services. Many firms organize global production around offshoring parts, components, and services to producers in distant countries, and contracts are drawn up specific to the parties and distinct legal systems involved. This book examines the contractual frictions that arise in the international system of production and how these frictions influence the world economy. The book discusses the inevitable complications that develop in contract negotiation and execution. It provides a unified framework that sheds light on the factors helping global firms determine production locations and other organizational choices. The book also implements a series of systematic empirical tests, based on recent data from the U.S. Customs and Census Offices, which demonstrate the relevance of contractual factors in global production decisions. Using an integrated approach, the book is an excellent resource for researchers, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates interested in the inner workings of international economics and trade.

This chapter focuses on the situation of the British multinational banks in the period of political and economic crisis in the world economy, particularly between 1914 and 1946. The most striking ...
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This chapter focuses on the situation of the British multinational banks in the period of political and economic crisis in the world economy, particularly between 1914 and 1946. The most striking characteristic of the history of the British multinational banks in this period was that they and their branch networks largely survived intact. Their strong corporate cultures enabled them to respond effectively to harsh conditions. Their reserves also helped them survive when the Great Depression and the financial crisis of 1931 struck. Moreover, the use of off-balance sheet transfers enabled banks to maintain confidence in the face of severe business fluctuations. The changes in the world economy between 1914 and 1946 proved the continued viability of the nineteenth-century structure of British multinational banking.Less

War and Depression

Geoffrey Jones

Published in print: 1995-08-10

This chapter focuses on the situation of the British multinational banks in the period of political and economic crisis in the world economy, particularly between 1914 and 1946. The most striking characteristic of the history of the British multinational banks in this period was that they and their branch networks largely survived intact. Their strong corporate cultures enabled them to respond effectively to harsh conditions. Their reserves also helped them survive when the Great Depression and the financial crisis of 1931 struck. Moreover, the use of off-balance sheet transfers enabled banks to maintain confidence in the face of severe business fluctuations. The changes in the world economy between 1914 and 1946 proved the continued viability of the nineteenth-century structure of British multinational banking.

Pension funds are associated with various implications of international investment. As the chapter makes an analysis of Table 6.12, it shows that this investment has experienced significant growth ...
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Pension funds are associated with various implications of international investment. As the chapter makes an analysis of Table 6.12, it shows that this investment has experienced significant growth since 1980 and although it entails large volumes, studies have only been focused on the relatively small part of this portfolio. There are several options for attaining further growth in terms of the portfolio shares in some countries. While international investment may be found to be beneficial for pension funds, it is important to consider that this also entails a tendency of major significance in terms of world economy and financial market development that has various implications for economic efficiency. This chapter first provides an analysis of the grounds for international diversification, examines supporting data, investigates the reasons for the behavioural differences and the recent experience of various pension-fund sectors, and identifies the micro and macro level economic implications of international investment.Less

International Investment

E. Philip Davis

Published in print: 1998-01-22

Pension funds are associated with various implications of international investment. As the chapter makes an analysis of Table 6.12, it shows that this investment has experienced significant growth since 1980 and although it entails large volumes, studies have only been focused on the relatively small part of this portfolio. There are several options for attaining further growth in terms of the portfolio shares in some countries. While international investment may be found to be beneficial for pension funds, it is important to consider that this also entails a tendency of major significance in terms of world economy and financial market development that has various implications for economic efficiency. This chapter first provides an analysis of the grounds for international diversification, examines supporting data, investigates the reasons for the behavioural differences and the recent experience of various pension-fund sectors, and identifies the micro and macro level economic implications of international investment.

It is now more than fifty years since the United Nations (UN) system and the Bretton Woods institutions were created. The world has changed since then, and so have its governance needs in terms of ...
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It is now more than fifty years since the United Nations (UN) system and the Bretton Woods institutions were created. The world has changed since then, and so have its governance needs in terms of institutions and rules. It is time to think about the contours of institutions and governance that would meet the needs of the world economy, and also polity, at least for the first quarter of the 21st century. This book examines the subject in depth by situating it in the wider context of globalisation which has shaped development in the world economy, affected the living conditions of people, and constrained the role of nation states. It explores the international context and the national setting and analyses some issues of emerging significance in the contemporary world, such as global macroeconomic management, transnational corporations, international capital flows, and cross-border movements of people. It also provides a critical evaluation of the existing institutions, in retrospect, with a focus on the UN, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organisation. It examines how existing rules need to be modified or existing institutions need to be restructured to meet the present and future needs of global governance. Finally, the book explores some important elements of governance which are critical for any vision of the future, suggests some changes in existing institutions, and points to emerging governance needs where new institutions may have to be created.Less

Governing Globalization : Issues and Institutions

Published in print: 2002-07-18

It is now more than fifty years since the United Nations (UN) system and the Bretton Woods institutions were created. The world has changed since then, and so have its governance needs in terms of institutions and rules. It is time to think about the contours of institutions and governance that would meet the needs of the world economy, and also polity, at least for the first quarter of the 21st century. This book examines the subject in depth by situating it in the wider context of globalisation which has shaped development in the world economy, affected the living conditions of people, and constrained the role of nation states. It explores the international context and the national setting and analyses some issues of emerging significance in the contemporary world, such as global macroeconomic management, transnational corporations, international capital flows, and cross-border movements of people. It also provides a critical evaluation of the existing institutions, in retrospect, with a focus on the UN, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organisation. It examines how existing rules need to be modified or existing institutions need to be restructured to meet the present and future needs of global governance. Finally, the book explores some important elements of governance which are critical for any vision of the future, suggests some changes in existing institutions, and points to emerging governance needs where new institutions may have to be created.

This chapter analyses the evolution of the international trading system from its inception as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947 to its latest incarnation as the World Trade ...
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This chapter analyses the evolution of the international trading system from its inception as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947 to its latest incarnation as the World Trade Organisation (WTO). It focuses on the adequacy or inadequacy of the system as it has evolved and functioned in an environment of changing international economic and political reality. It also attempts to grapple with the more difficult question of looking at the future prospects of the system, the strains it will need to face and subsequent changes that are called for in its approach, content, and functioning, taking into account the future governance needs of the world economy and polity. The chapter analyses the crisis that gripped the system in the 1980s and the denouement that followed at the conclusion of the Uruguay Round negotiations in 1994.Less

From the GATT to the WTO and Beyond

S. P. Shukla

Published in print: 2002-07-18

This chapter analyses the evolution of the international trading system from its inception as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947 to its latest incarnation as the World Trade Organisation (WTO). It focuses on the adequacy or inadequacy of the system as it has evolved and functioned in an environment of changing international economic and political reality. It also attempts to grapple with the more difficult question of looking at the future prospects of the system, the strains it will need to face and subsequent changes that are called for in its approach, content, and functioning, taking into account the future governance needs of the world economy and polity. The chapter analyses the crisis that gripped the system in the 1980s and the denouement that followed at the conclusion of the Uruguay Round negotiations in 1994.

Assessing the conditions of the world economy as background for the external trading environment for the NICs is necessary to provide a prospective scenario for the export status of the NICs, thus, ...
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Assessing the conditions of the world economy as background for the external trading environment for the NICs is necessary to provide a prospective scenario for the export status of the NICs, thus, several assumptions that project the trend of world trade are discussed. The authors illustrate how the trend of deindustrialization and some sociopolitical environments may significantly hinder the export expansions in the NICs and affect their economic growth. Nevertheless, the process of economic liberalization, the drive for deregulation, the privatization of public enterprises, the surge of outward foreign direct investment from the NICs, and the gradual liberalization of financial markets and institutions are all promising developments toward more efficient and open economies for NICs in the near future. In addition, the relative importance of the U.S., EC and Japanese market to their past export performances are explored to be able to forecast their future trend in export growth.Less

Prospects in OECD Markets

Peter C. Y. ChowMitchell H. Kellman

Published in print: 1993-08-26

Assessing the conditions of the world economy as background for the external trading environment for the NICs is necessary to provide a prospective scenario for the export status of the NICs, thus, several assumptions that project the trend of world trade are discussed. The authors illustrate how the trend of deindustrialization and some sociopolitical environments may significantly hinder the export expansions in the NICs and affect their economic growth. Nevertheless, the process of economic liberalization, the drive for deregulation, the privatization of public enterprises, the surge of outward foreign direct investment from the NICs, and the gradual liberalization of financial markets and institutions are all promising developments toward more efficient and open economies for NICs in the near future. In addition, the relative importance of the U.S., EC and Japanese market to their past export performances are explored to be able to forecast their future trend in export growth.